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BEIJING : North Korean nuclear disarmament talks were suspended on Thursday with no date set for when they would resume, the Chinese government said, following four days of deadlocked negotiations.
"The parties agreed to recess and will resume the talks at the earliest opportunity to continue to discuss and formulate an action plan for the next phase," said a statement released by China as host of the six-nation talks.
The statement said the six nations remained committed to implementing an accord signed last month that would see North Korea close its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon by mid-April in return for 50,000 tonnes of fuel aid.
"The parties agreed they will continue to advance the process of the six-party talks," the statement said.
"The parties reaffirmed that they will faithfully carry out...the initial actions for the implementation of the joint statement of February 13, 2007."
Under the February 13 accord, North Korea agreed to shut down its Yongbyon reactor and allow UN atomic inspectors back into the country within 60 days.
North Korea, which conducted its first atomic weapons test in October last year, would eventually receive one million tonnes of heavy fuel or equivalent energy aid if it permanently dismantled its nuclear weapons programme.
The latest round of the six-nation talks began on Monday amid high hopes major progress would be made in cementing the accord.
But North Korea refused to negotiate until US$25 million in funds, which had been frozen in a Macau bank due to US accusations of money laundering and counterfeiting, had been returned to it.
The United States, which imposed the sanctions in 2005, said at the start of the week that it would allow the money to be returned.
But the money was not sent from Macau to a North Korean account at the Bank of China in Beijing.
Chinese officials have not explained why the funds were not transferred. - AFP/ch
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